Today it is not uncommon for a consumer to make a purchase online for products or services that can be redeemed locally by presenting a local merchant a printed receipt from the online transaction. In such instances, the merchant can authenticate the printed receipt using a point of sale terminal or by visual inspection. Movie tickets, airline tickets, and other retail goods and services can be purchased in this manner.
Although this approach has proven useful, inconveniences can arise when the printed receipt is lost, stolen, or misplaced. For example, a merchant may not readily allow completion of the online transaction without a printed receipt. In circumstances where the merchant can be flexible, it may take sometime for the merchant to validate the transaction by other means (e.g., consumer pin number, driver's license, etc.), and the consumer may be required to pay a validation fee.
A need therefore arises for a method and apparatus for fulfilling purchases.